Shillong-based band Bending Waves on channelising their resilience through lyrics, without losing their edgy style

The up-and-coming alternative rock band from Shillong, Bending Waves, is making its mark on India’s music scene, pairing melody with a high-energy, punchy, guitar-driven sound. Their debut single, Medicine, and the follow-up track, Feeling Good, quickly earned them widespread attention, with lyrics channelling their resilience and hope without ever losing their edgy style. The band, comprising Mahrhendiam Lakiang (on vocals), Momo Gajan Basumatary (on bass guitar), CM Richie Ngachammi Kharshiing (on guitar) and Vivian Kharumnuid (on drums), is known for live sets that shift across moods and genres. The band recently performed at Shillong’s Cherry Blossom Festival, giving an unpredictably compelling experience at the shows.

How would you introduce/describe your music genre? How do you make it sound so fluid?

Mahrhendiam: Music genres are quite vague, but for the purpose of making sure that the algorithms in the industry understand us, we could be classified as Alternative Rock, Pop Rock, Punk or Modern Grunge, if you may.

We use distorted guitars and melodic hooks to drive our songs across the board. Plain and simple, maybe that’s how we keep it fluid.

Your songs sound fresh and have Western pop vibes. What goes into creating the music? Who are your inspirations?

Momo: Bending Waves is a boiling cauldron of music vocabulary. The birth of a Bending Waves song can come from a chord progression, a riff, a bassline, a vocal phrase or even something as simple as humming a tune. It honestly feels like we don’t like complicating things too much.

Every individual in the band listens to different artists/bands. But, of late, we’ve been very inspired by the 90s Seattle-born ‘Grunge’ scene, which gave birth to legendary musical acts like Nirvana, Alice in Chains and Soundgarden.

How or what made you start the band?

Richie: The band is a collective of talented artistes, not just musicians. We believe that everyone has the right to express their feelings. We express ourselves through Bending Waves, which was started to express our artistry, emotions and feelings through music, live experiences and the occasional visual medium.

You are a very young band. How has your journey been in these one and half years?

Momo: The past year has been quite eventful. The band was awarded ‘The best performing band’ by the Chief Minister’s Meghalaya Grassroots Music Project. We released three singles and music videos for each single, which were very well received across the country. Feeling Good, our second single, was heavily featured across social media pages and websites. The song was also featured in Spotify’s “Fresh Finds India” playlist.

The Cherry Blossom Festival had been on our bucket list for years as musicians and we are super proud to be part of the lineup last year. Being the biggest music festival in Northeast India, we really wanted to showcase our music there. 

Did you learn music professionally? Or are you self-taught musicians?

Vivian: We all dabbled in a few classical/professional music courses during our younger days, but it didn’t last long. A huge chunk of our current musical vocabulary and knowledge is a result of self-teaching and experience.

Your videos have a '90s charm with a modern soundscape. How did you ideate the same?

Mahrhendiam: We have a very talented and dedicated visual team with whom we spend hours discussing, drafting and brainstorming unique ideas. They help us bring our ideas to reality. It’s about coming up with the most random and bizarre ideas and then tuning them to our needs. We are a band that admires good visual art. Our videos will always catch your attention!

Where do you think NE music/musicians stand in the music map, nationally?

Richie: There is no difference in the skill, quality or passion of NE musicians in comparison to their contemporaries from the rest of the country. Folks in the music industry outside of the Northeast, however, have a better understanding of management, marketing and finance. This gives them an upper hand in getting their talent more recognised.

Tell us a little about your upcoming projects/songs.

Mahrhendiam: We have our debut album being recorded, and we performed it at the Cherry Blossom festival live, for the very first time.

Do you have plans to venture into film songs?

Richie: We don’t write music for films, yet. Maybe, when we’re more mature and 50 years of age! Jokes aside, our songs are very relatable and can be easily licensed to movies with the right setting. For instance, Song #5 off of our upcoming debut album could be used in a heist movie! (P.S. We don’t endorse heists!) (laughs).

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